24 May 2012

Peter Saville has joined many internationally-acclaimed artists in making a donation to the Castlefield Gallery's Fundraising Auction which takes place on 30 May 2012. The money raised will help to secure the organisation's future as a leader in artist development in the North West of England.

The Gallery has already received a large number of spectacular drawings, sculptures, photographs and paintings from artists such as Mark Leckey (Turner Prize 2008 winner), Haroon Mirza (Silver Lion, Venice Biennale 2011), David Shrigley and Liam Spencer. Every artist is donating 100% of the auction sales proceeds to the Gallery.

The auctioneer will be highly respected artist and teacher Professor Pavel Büchler of Manchester Metropolitan University, assisted by Stephen Snoddy, Director, The New Art Gallery Walsall. Plus lending his support to the auction will be special guest, author, DJ and journalist, Dave Haslam.

Factory Records Ltd (the resurrected imprint via LTM) releases a new double vinyl edition of Section 25's 1984 landmark album From The Hip on 28 May. The album, produced by Bernard Sumner, combined smooth synthpop with seamless electro beats. This new version features digitally re-mastered audio, with the original FACT 90 album on a single LP plus a bonus 12" single with two versions of seminal single FAC 108Looking From A Hilltop. The 8-minute proto-techno Megamix version was edited and mixed by Sumner and Donald Johnson of ACR, and later sampled by both Orbital and The Shamen. The flip features Stephen Morris's (New Order/The Other Two) 2010 remix.

Peter Saville has 'digitally remastered' his original cover design with help from Matthew Robertson and Idea Digital.

Tracklisting

Disc 1

1. The Process2. Looking From A Hilltop3. Reflection4. Prepare To Live5. Program For Light6. Desert7. Beneath The Blade8. Inspiration

Disc 2

1. Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix)2. Looking From A Hilltop (Stephen Morris Mix)

Although original vocalists Larry and Jenny Cassidy have sadly passed away, Section 25 continue to perform and record in 2012 with work on a new album ongoing. Fronted by founder member Vin Cassidy, along with Beth Cassidy (daughter of Larry and Jenny) on vocals and keyboards they are joined by Steven Stringer on guitar and keyboards & Stuart Hill on keyboards. The band brings their retro-futurism to selected live dates throughout 2012:

23 May 2012

Disorder, Box, Detroit and now XXX. The first Hacienda 30th anniversary party - organised by Peter Hook and taking over the two levels of car park in the basement of the Hacienda apartment block - was up there with the best of them.

There were no half measures: permissions were sought from the management company and residents of an entire apartment block; parking spaces were rented across the road to create the space; council licences were granted; an impressive PA, stage, light show, bar and (a generous supply of) portaloos installed; (Greg) Wilson, Hook, Haslam, DaSilva and Park were booked; and all for 500 invited guests paying GBP 10.00 each to charity.

The Old Order were, of course, famous for such philanthropic displays of largesse.

20 May 2012

Almost two years to the day since Peter Hook and The Light debuted their live reworkings of early Joy Division, centered around Unknown Pleasures, and a year since Closer et al was replayed, Friday 18th and Saturday 19th May 2012 saw Hooky complete the tri-cycle with Still - performed "in its entirety for the first ever time" at Factory 251.

The set matched the disjointed original album perfectly: powerful and previously unreleased/overlooked Joy Division tracks (The Only Mistake, Something Must Break) were added to The Light's now-enormous repertoire whilst earlier Warsaw tracks (The Kill, Walked In Line) and the Velvet cover version (Sister Ray) were added for completeness.

But it's the crossover points, when tracks from the Unknown Pleasures and Closer shows - now honed to powerful near-perfection through constant touring to obscure, surprised and eternally grateful foreign audiences - drop almost randomly into the set, that the band comes alive and the place explodes in mass catharsis.

The best is saved for last, though, with an excursion into New (Order) territory - 12 bass strings combine for The Him, Dreams Never End and a sublime Doubts Even Here.

The Light are alternating Unknown Pleasures and Closer around the UK in the next few weeks, then beyond. Festival headline/own tent stuff. Must see.

In the grey days of late 1970s post-punk Manchester, youth culture was a serious affair: every musical performance was measured mostly by the conviction of its delivery. The term 'New Wave' opened up free vistas where acquired skills could once again be exercised after punk's monochrome blur. It could be applied to anything from a James 'Blood' Ulmer record to the latest Throbbing Gristle release, Magazine to Swell Maps. Move outside that terrain into Sun Ra, Parliament, Frank Sinatra and Martin Denny, and your options were suddenly without limit...

Then came Tony Wilson's Factory Club (at the Russell Club in Hulme) offering an open invitation to experiment that was taken up when Ken Hollings, Howard Walmsley, Eddie Sherwood and a few others decided to make some noise to accompany their 16mm silent epic Biting Tongues. A further performance followed a few weeks later, when Colin Seddon and Graham Massey disbanded their Post Natals project and joined up. The film itself, a flashing series of negative images, became a memory; the name remained.